Transactions of the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, no. 5 (1974). | Brown, Roxanna M. “The History of Ceramic Finds in Sulawesi: A Talk given by Roxanna Brown at the 36th meeting of the Southeast Ceramic Society, June 12th, 1974.

Transactions of the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, no. 6 (19??). | “Research into the Disposition of Ceramic Sites in North Sumatra” (Note: very hard-to-find)

If anyone has a copy, can you please let the President (Patricia Welch) know at: pbjwelch@gmail.com, as she would very much like to have a scanned copy for their permanent files.

14 July 2007 (The Star) – Noted ceramics expert Dr. Roxanna Brown from the South-East Asian Ceramics Museum in Bangkok will give a lecture about Shipwreck Ceramics and the Fall of Malacca on Saturday’s meeting if the West Malaysian chapter of the South-East Asian Ceramics Society. The article also outlines how ceramic finds from shipwrecks have helped us understand key points in ancient Southeast Asia’s history.

Reading shipwreck ceramics

Ancient shipwrecks with Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese ceramics are important in that they can tell us how maritime trade in South-East Asia had an impact on kingdoms like Sirivijaya, Angkor, Ayutthaya and Malacca.

According to Bangkok-based South-East Asian Ceramics Museums director, Dr Roxanna Brown, the ceramics offer an insight into how the maritime trade enriched these centres of development.

Based on the types of ceramics found, as well as excavation sites, a chronological order of trading activities, empire development, and even the building of temples like Angkor and Borobudur can be verified, said Dr Brown who will be delivering a lecture on Shipwreck Ceramics and the Fall of Malacca at the 31st annual general meeting of the South-East Asian Ceramics Society, West Malaysia Chapter on July 21 at Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur.

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Dr Roxanna Brownâ€™s lecture will be held from 2pm-6pm at Galeri 2, Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur. Registration: 1.30pm. The lecture is open to the public with a donation of RM30 to the society. Participants are allowed to bring a relevant antique ceramic each for identification. For details, e-mail: seacsmal@yahoo.com

Synopsis
The study of ceramics as evidence of material culture is a long established field of enquiry within archaeology, but is relatively new within the associated disciplines of history and art history, where these artefacts are increasingly studied as indicators of cultural dynamics and exchange contacts. This lecture will provide an overview of the way in which the study of historical ceramics in maritime trade both draws on the work of archaeologists and seeks to contextualise these findings and add further layers of meaning by situating them within a broader historical framework.

As excavations increase at mainland Southeast Asian sites, especially Angkor, we must increasingly be alert to the need for secure identification of lesser known imported ceramics that are being discovered. The recent shipwreck evidence will assist us in this process of understanding, interpreting and dating the ceramics which the archaeological landscape of the Southeast Asia is revealing. These ceramics also open up new lines of enquiry into the origins of forms and decorative styles in regional ceramics, most notably in Angkorian-period Khmer ceramic wares, as most dramatically indicated by the Intan and Cirebon cargoes.

Admission is FREE but registration is required. Please register before 13 Mar 2007, by emailing nlprogrammes@nlb.gov.sg and including “SEA Ceramics” in the subject field. Places are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first serve basis.

About the speaker:John Guy is Senior Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He is well known to members as a widely published specialist on Southeast Asian ceramics and trade ceramic history. He has participated in a number of ceramic site excavations in Southeast Asia, both land and maritime, and most recently spent three days at the Anlong Thom kiln site2, on Phnom Kulen, in Cambodia, the excavation of which was sponsored by the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society.